Q&A: Question about the lesson on Tractate Sukkah — Sukkah wood
Question about the lesson on Tractate Sukkah — Sukkah wood
Question
Hello Rabbi, I listened to the lesson on the site on Tractate Sukkah, regarding the topic of the prohibition on deriving benefit from sukkah wood.
A. Does the Rabbi have a link to lessons that were given on the whole chapter?
B. The Rabbi mentioned there the question of the Oneg Yom Tov—how can a woman sit in a sukkah, and how can one sit in a sukkah when rain is falling—and brought the Kovetz Shiurim’s answer, that when there is no obligation of sukkah, the sukkah simply does not exist at all. But that only answers the issue of rain—what about a woman who sits in it?
Answer
There are several answers to this. A woman who sits in a sukkah fulfills a commandment, and therefore clearly there is no prohibition on deriving benefit. The prohibition on benefit exists only when there is no commandment. I just now heard a very interesting lesson by Rabbi Asher Weiss on the topic. Recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Eia_f83RmE
Whatever exists—recordings or printed lessons—is on the site.
Discussion on Answer
1. I wondered about that too.
2. I definitely think so.
3. Indeed.
I watched the lesson on the Rabbi’s recommendation. Thank you, and I have a few comments.
1. He challenges the Oneg Yom Tov from the custom of great rebbes who would sit in the sukkah even during heavy rains (the Meiri also testifies that this was so with his rabbis). And his conclusion at the end is that someone who sits in the sukkah fulfills a commandment but does not fulfill God’s will, and is even called a fool. So what does that say about those rebbes?
2. The whole background to the lesson is how one receives reward in the World to Come. But perhaps anyone who fulfills what he thinks is right to fulfill will receive reward for it? Like those rebbes.
3. The halakhic discussion in its own right is amazing.